About Us
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We came together six years ago over our mutual love and our shared interests of rural living, outdoor activities (especially aquatic ones), therapeutic bodywork, sustainable land and water use, healthy food production and growth in personal spiritual awareness. We quickly realised that Bill’s place on the shores of Tikapa Moana was the perfect base from which to advance our vision of healthier people, safer and more productive communities and a robust natural environment. We are active members of the sustainable living and organic farming movement in New Zealand, especially through our association with Organic Farm New Zealand (our certification authority), the national Farmers’ Markets movement and Organic Explorer. We endeavour to be responsible kaitiaki (custodians) of the land we occupy, and the sea, the forests, the mountains and plains around us. We are dedicated to the principle of helping others to help themselves, and to realise how they can be more responsible members of their community and guardians of their environment. We are privileged to live an active and productive lifestyle in a relatively peaceful and unspoiled corner of this earth … and we are keen to share this with others, whether they need special care and treatments or just clean air, healthy fresh food, a good rest … and true friendship. We are members of the Miranda Naturalists’ Trust (very active advocacy for the conservation of migratory shorebirds) and the group promoting the advancement and protection of our “Seabird Coast”. We are strong supporters and friends of our local Warekawa Marae (Maori meeting house) and our national association of aquatic bodyworkers (ABANZ). We love cycling, swimming, yoga, dancing and singing. Marilyn was born, raised and married in Taranaki (New Plymouth) where she, in turn raised 3 children now in their ’30s. She worked for many years in the retailing of pharmaceuticals and natural/traditional medicines in New Zealand. She lived for eight years on the other side of Tikapa Moana (in the Coromandel Peninsula). She is a trained practitioner of myofascial integration, Watsu and therapeutic massage, with many years of practical experience in those areas. Bill was born on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in the USA near the border with Ontario and Quebec. He was one of the first of President Kennedy’s Peace Coprs Volunteers (1962-64 in Bolivia). Hestudied biology, ecology, fisheries and rural development at the University of New Hampshire and Cornell University in the late 1960s. |
Bill worked for 15 years in international development in rural fishing communities in South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, mainly with the United Nations. He immigrated to New Zealand as an oyster farmer in 1984, settling in the Coromandel Peninsula and living in Whitianga for 11 years. As well as his work with the Tikapa Moana Wellness Retreat, Bill continues to be a practicing marine ecologist, focusing on coastal and marine farming issues. Bill is the principal driving force behind the “Muddy Feet” project that has been reporting on the ecology and resource management issues of the southern Firth of Thames and the Ramsar site, and assisting with the development of part of the new National Cycleway in the area.